He seems like a guy who will be picked in the 2nd round by a team with several picks in that round, and how can take a chance on a guy who won't play for them for a few years - but could turn into a steal down the line.
He's underage and Finland had a really strong d-man setup in the World Juniors. Calling it a red flag that he didn't make the lineup is saying that he should be top 10 in the draft if not for that. No, that's unreasonable and shouldn't even be considered. Not when considering to pick him in the second round of the draft.
I got the Hockey Prospect book about 10 days ago and they have both Robins and Grieg in their 1st round---so I don't know maybe I was wrong on them being 2nd/3rd rounders but anyway in their list of 2020 draft list eligibles there were 27 who played in European men's leagues and many of them they have ranked in their top 100: 2. Tim Stutzle-DEL 8. Lucas Raymond-SHL 10. Alexander Holtz-SHL 15.Lukas Reichel-DEL 17. Noel Gunler-SHL 23. Rodion Amirov-KHL 24. J.J. Peterka-DEL 25. Anton Lundell-Liiga (second full year) 26. Jan Mysak-Czech (finished the year in the OHL) 31. Samuel Johannesson-SHL 50. Maxim Groshev-KHL 54. Eemil Viro-Liiga 56. Shakir Mukhamadullin-KHL 69. Topi Niemela-Liiga 72. Joonas Oden--Liiga (an overager) 82. Roni Hirvonen-Liiga and also Yaroslav Askarov-VHL is their No. 1 goalie. Among the others are Jan Bednar who played in the top Czech men's league and who may be among the earliest goalies taken and Alexander Nikishin a KHL LD and Nick Malik another goalie who split his time between the Czech 2 league and the OHL. The rest Artyom Galimov-KHL Daniil Pylenkov-KHL Andrei Buyalsky-VHL Benjamin Baumgartner-NLA Axel Rindell-Liiga Kristian Tanus-Liiga and Oscar Flynn-Czech are all overagers.
Scouching did a great breakdown of Niemela. Saw on his Patreon. He said the vid will be released after this weekend. Could see LA snag him with one of their later 2nds
Not sure if you’re still doing rivalry videos, but I’d like to see one about the Colorado Avalanche and Minnesota Wild. Those two fanbases definitely seem to hate each other and they’ve met in the playoffs 3 times between 2003 and 2014
@@martytu20 and it looks like an absolute STEAL at this point …. He is currently one of the best d prospect in the entire NHL…. WAAAAAY ahead of so many players drafted ahead of him. Hell he’s already of Jake Sanderson who went top 5 that year
Shannon 'Dallas has a history of selecting good Finnish players'! Um ... WHAT? Like who? Heiskanen? Most teams would have taken him at third overall, and I think probably NJ or Philly would now want to re-do that decision.
He had very bad puck luck this year he was constantly hitting posts or missing empty nets. If he gets his accuracy on point he could have had 5-10 more goals
Watched him closely this year. He's fine, nyt needs muscle like you said. Made some bad passes but mostly played well, I like his skill to get the pressure off by skating and passing quickly.
He'll make the NHL or get close: great poise and skating, seems very coachable. Tells a good amount that at 163 lbs he can play pro, think of what he can do with 20 lbs more